Beekeeping In A Flow Hive: Will It Really Work Or Fail?

Beekeeping is all about the honey and now it's time to see IF the Flow Hive will deliver us some delicious honey or will it fail?
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[@keithpadbury9818]

A few things: Opening the frame 1/4 at a time is correct but allow most of the honey to flow out of that 1/4 BEFORE opening the second quarter. This will reduce spills and overflows. Connect a food grade flexible poly tube to the spigot and place this tube in your jar. Surround the tube and cover the top of your jar with Saran wrap to prevent bees/flys getting in your honey (or use bucket with holes in the lid for your down tube). Looking in the back window does not give a complete picture of whether the frame is full and capped. This explains why your jar didn't fill. When you are considering harvesting lift and inspect the flow frames the day prior to check if the frame is full and capped, partially capped, or not capped to your preference (or you can test brix if you wish). Thick and or candied honey is very problematic.

[@Cypher7765]

Seeing you use a straight edge to hoist up a hive makes me wince 😂

[@PaulyPaulPaul]

Thought the same. Could here my dad's voice in my ear.

[@honigtrailapiary4341]

Congratulations on your first Flow Hive Harvest! Some tips: You can use the Flow Key or a pair of pliers to carefully remove the 2 plugs. the lip on one end of the honey tube is designed to go into the leak back point on the bottom of the Flow frame while harvesting honey. We recommend only inserting the Flow Key only about 1/3 of the way in at a time, then after the honey flow starts to diminish, insert the key another third of the way in, and continue the same process until the key is all the way in to the back. Getting to much of a honey flow at once can cause the honey to possibly overflow into the pest management tray on the bottom. You can also make sure that the hive is tilted 3 degrees to the rear by using the built in level on the side of the hive bottom board. I just harvested 2 of my Flow hives in the last 2 days without any issues, and i typically get at least 2 quarts from each Flow Frame. It looked like the frames you harvested were full, i suspect that some of the honey may have overflowed, look into the pest management tray on the bottom. If you see much honey there, then I think you had an overflow due to opening to much of the frame to quickly. Again we recommend opening only a third at a time and allowing the honey flow to diminish before opening the frame another 1/3. I hope you noticed by the next morning after all the tiny air bubbles have risen to the top, how clear and beautiful your honey looks. Im sure you now realize how much work you saved not having to process, centrifuge and filtering of the honey you didn't have to do, not to mention all the hard work you have to do just to take the honey off of the hive. (I harvested honey from, at one time, about 30 of my own hives the traditional way for almost 20 years). All the hard work was One reason i stopped beekeeping for about 10 years until I discovered the Flow Hive. I also noticed early on that I can now harvest my honey from my flow hives without harming a single bee! If one of the girls falls into the jar, i simply fish her out and set her on the harvest shelf or landing board and within about 10 minutes she with maybe a little help from a sister or two she has licked herself clean and happily flies off! If you have any questions about Flow Hives, please feel free to contact me. Hope you have many more successful harvests from your Flow Hive, Best Regards, Chuck Rau One of Flow's U. S. Ambassadors.

[@AaronTonge]

Why you using a spirit level when they're built in to the base with the correct gradient 😅

[@priscillawilliams7957]

I normally get 2.5 quarts per frame. Double check the flow frame from the inside to see if you harvested it all.

[@brendawydeven2934]

There should be a level in the side of the stand built in. I think I see it on video. I believe the one on the stand ,if the bubble is centered it's leaned back. It's an automatic setting.

[@bradgoliphant]

Well congrats on your first FlowHive extraction David. I’m surprised how fast it happened for you. Wow. Hard working bees. I would like to point out a few things to help educate. First off, there are built in levels in the hives-base, both on the side and the back. Second, the hive should have been angled backwards much more. I have a feeling some honey was lost due to this. **It’s important to note that if those two frames were indeed full, you would have extracted 64 oz! As with turning the Lkey inside each frame a third at a time-its reasoning is to wait 5 mins in between each third turn. This is because if this is your first extraction, which I believe it was, opening the entire frame as fast as you did, honey can spill out on the inside of the hive. This should not ever happen again as the frames become more worked. Besides that, job well done. I’m happy to see you have the flowhive a try.

[@Algroh91]

Watching you use your level as a pry bar sends shivers down my spine.

[@beek]

Good point

[@Banyan314]

I use Long nose pliers to remove the caps. Use two keys.

[@Peter-od7op]

What great about flow hive every frame will taste different because your not mixing all honey together.

[@LaNuvrisaDelMonteSoapShop]

Excellent point!! Did you see the depth of color difference in those two jars! 😊very cool!

[@kdj444]

The color difference is fun too

[@michellegardner6284]

I have a bee hive above my attic that has been present for years and I am very attached to my bees. I think I want to get the same Flow Bee Hive and move them to a rural property so they can continue to be my lovely bees! Thanks for the video! The comments are informative as well! Glad I stumbled across this! 🌻🐝🐝🍯

[@calideutsch5794]

Can't lie... I really want one!

[@markdouglass9298]

Excellent video

[@rickmoore52]

I usually get about 2.5 quarts per Flow frame. If the hive is tilted back properly the tubes will be completely full while the honey flows out. Also, I find it easiest just to keep some plastic wrap handy if I need to cover the top of the jar while it's filling up.

[@paulrevere5171]

You must hate your level.

[@arecansawhillbille4463]

The level made my cringe badly lol

[@rosssmith8752]

Do you have to do anything to the frames before harvesting again or will the bees get right back to work?

[@marktechsci]

I really like my flow hive. I’ve been keeping bees since 2001 or so and never spun a frame. I’ve done Ross Rounds, comb, Flow. I used a bunch of plastic sheeting in the beginning but am removing it as hives collapse etc. I do very little hive management and just let them do their thing. Most of my colonies are strong so I let them make whatever comb they want, worker or drone. Then when I want some honey I slap a Flow super on a strong colony.

[@Roqjoru]

Found that a ziplock cut in one corner, shove tube into ziplock corner and with a rubber band/ hair tie secure bag at the mouth of the jar. No fíes nor bees.

[@SheilaShares]

I’m not a beekeeper, but the bees kinda assigned me to be one 😅, so I’m trying to learn as much as I could now. 😆🤪 I’m about to order one of those to give these bees a proper home. They’re in my kitchen vent right now, so just image the sound of sticky honey coming from the fan every time we use our overhead microwave. 😂 Killing them is not an option, (it will break my heart) so if you “can’t beat them, join them.” 😊😊😊

[@albigensian4655]

here's a tip for you, if you get more than one flow hive, use two keys when opening the frames as well as doing it gradually, i find it helps especially if the frames are a little stiff from use over time, i leave the keys in position when harvesting a frame and give them a good 30 secs in place when closing. they can leak a little honey beneath the hive on the very first harvest, but the girls will clean that up quickly. i have 5 flow hive +2, not sure why you'd use that spirit level when you have the flow hive +2 since there's one built into the hive for the 3 degree tilt angle, it's on the left side of the base of your hive.

[@Vedrajrm]

How will the refill if the other ends are capped?

[@danieb-tupperwarelady]

after watching your videos I see that you have many beautiful hives... would you suggest the Honeyflow for a novice?

[@anthonypeavy8243]

My ladies kept flying into the honey so much that I had to watch the whole time to make sure they didn't get caught in the honey!

[@aegisranger]

Don't mess up your feet adjustment! Just put a 1 inch board under the feet on the side you want higher...

[@joeelisio1993]

Do you need any other set up I saw boxes in the back?

[@user-ub9th6mf9t]

My shop teacher just yelled at you !!THAT NOT A PRY BAR ITS A LEVEL!!!

[@tasmedic]

I think my bees have read the plans for the flow hive. Every time I harvest, they zoom round the back of the hive, and commit suicide in the jar of honey, unless I cover the tube and jar with cling wrap. They even fly into the space where you fit the handle to crack the comb. So, I always take the handle out straight away and put the top plug loosely back into it's place while harvesting. It's loads of fun though, and no effort at all.

[@beek]

That's funny but a bit frustrating too.

[@andrewwest4470]

On the first one, I’m pretty sure you didn’t open it all the way the first time, and then when you went to open it all the way you ended up closing the first 3/4 that you opened initially

[@ssccurrent]

Apis cerena indica bees are comfortable with this type hive ??????

[@sinpac6161]

Pretty sure that level is just fine. It is made of I-beam construction and if you look at the placement of the level I seriously doubt if there was any damage. Maybe use a fulcrum next time. Archimedes would then look down on you with pride. lol lol Anyway thanks for the education on the flow hive.

[@stevedodd7883]

In a flow hive, what do you do when the honey granulates

[@christosl4395]

I've seen others using two (2) cranks simultaneously ... wouldnt be better ?

[@indragunawan8464]

Hello this work for stingless bee?

[@mikeries8549]

Its not a level anymore its a pry bar from now on.

[@davethekiwibloke]

ummm.. you're gonna need a new level, odds are it's out of true now

[@ozmo69]

Do you not have to put the key in and then rotate the other way to fix the hive?

[@beek]

There are two different slots. One for opening the honey frames and one for closing them. Don't want to confuse the two!!

[@Jesseholladay]

You sound like Casey Kasem!

[@mathgasm8484]

I laughed when someone asked if I used flow hives as a side liner. I said nope costs too much for 50 to 100 plus hives.

[@beek]

Yup

[@Michael-wy7om]

I have had a Flow Hive for around 5 years and spent over 1k on bees and the hive and not a drop of honey yet. That would have bought alot of honey 😂

[@jjhh8425]

If you set up the level by holding it level above the roof of the hive, that will give you an idea how much you need to go, then if you know how many threads per inch, then you can just turn the screw, how many times, to equal how far you need to go. So, if you need to go, 1/4", and you have 24 threads per inch, then just turn the screw 6 turns. Then check again. When that fails, just go back to the video above. 🤣🤣

[@maxcordell1]

Don't the bees put propolis around the caps? I would think there is a risk of the plastic caps breaking because of it.

[@trungnguyenchi9583]

Hi Bro. What do you think between flow hive box and normal box ? Can we do industry with flow hive box ? Pls reply me I’m from VietNam, Asia.

[@Sydney_interactive]

Self managing honey bank?

[@user-dh9ie7qq2y]

Wherw can I purchase?

[@beek]

I bought mine from the company

[@user-dh9ie7qq2y]

@@beek Thanks, Beek. Do you need to take a course to educate yourself about bee keeping?

[@michelle-lc9qj]

Are these any better than the Langstroth hives? Ewwww the fly!!

[@subjob]

once you take all the honey out, do you have to clean to remove the caps? or how would that works?

[@alexanderbondarev2265]

Где купить такой улей?

[@beek]

Just Google it.

[@jithuun0924]

Is this useful, anyone use that...??? ❤ advice plzz ok or not

[@bartender18duff]

You don’t need to clean up any of the honey, the bees will do it better that anyone.

[@beek]

I worry about robbing.

[@robiulhoquebusiness392]

I am a bee farmer. I need a box. Please help me to get the box.

[@gordonharper9126]

You don't have to do that. It's already tilted.

[@garyRt23Bees]

Too many plastic pieces to loose or break for my taste ! And replacements are not cheap !

[@torbjorngustafsson1177]

Not one bee?

[@brianbennett4374]

Very cool. Will the bees go threw winter in that Hive as well. Thanks😊

[@kdj444]

They can, but if u dont remove the flow frames, u will have a queen laying in them in the spring

[@deanclarke392]

5 years in the UK and never lost a colony with my 4 flow hives

[@toreydevaney4763]

How did you know the honey was ready to harvest? Can you check a flow hive honey with a refractometer like with lang hive?

[@IanUK.]

Yep you can and I do as I have learnt that just because the visible end column is capped it does not mean the whole frame is capped. I check the flow frames quickly just as you would check any frame individually, test any cell if you want too, but, when frame is 80% or more capped it's fine as in around 18% water.

[@kdj444]

He could have pulled the flow frames out and looked at them or used the side windows to see the end frames and see if they were fully capped.

[@kdj444]

You should spray paint the pieces u pull out safty orange, so if u drop them, u can find them.

[@LaNuvrisaDelMonteSoapShop]

I saw that... he's right about them needing to be marked. I put stickers on mine, so the pieces are easy to find, but still transparent to be able to look through.

[@ronintel2]

If you use a level for leverage you're messing up your level. Don't do that. Don't teach your kids to do that. Then again this explains why all the houses built since the 60s are aging as poorly as they are.

[@kylejennings819]

Hey david, question for ya. Since the hive drains the honey from the middle, the caps arent removed!!! Doesnt this confuse the bees with their food suply and make it difficult/slow for them to fill again?

[@honigtrailapiary4341]

After an hour or so after harvesting the bees some how realize the honey has drained out, they then remove the capping wax, recycling much of it and clean out the entire frame and will start storing more nectar with a good nectar flow!

[@TerryRomanko]

The bees know the cells are empty, partly based upon the more hollow sound that is made when they walk over them. It does not take them long to open the cells back up and start refilling during a nectar flow.

[@HAMMER253]

No difficulties. They realise and start uncapping and repairing the cell within the hour

[@kdj444]

No, the bees can sense that there is no honey(probably through vibration) under the caps, and they will remove them and start over

[@spider2914]

I found if you paint the caps with a bright paint they are easier to find in the grass when your drop them. Great video David!!

[@diannemiller4754]

That is rather neat😊

[@sigurjonhelgason8943]

Still don't understand how you inspection are done on that'd hive😊

[@LaNuvrisaDelMonteSoapShop]

The queen never goes into the flow frames.

[@kdj444]

Same on a normal 8 or 10 frame hive. And the 6 or 7 flow frams can be removed to inspect if full of honey

[@anthonypeterson3112]

That's the video I was hoping for too. There's video after video of people extracting honey.

[@barryw4726]

Did you measure the moisture content after extracting it? Since you cant see if the center is really capped isn't it a good idea to take a refractometer measurement?

[@brendawydeven2934]

That was fast. Good job David

[@stendak]

So is it worth it in your opinion?

[@marobroski2286]

Dziękujemy.

[@timmyd5144]

Woot woot been looking forward to this video

[@nonya1940]

Im a first year bekeeper and im trying one of the insulated horrizontal hive with layens frames im interested to see your adventure into layens .

[@naturalwitchery]

EeeeGAD! That wretched fly!

[@williameckhardt3944]

Use a sink screen for honey to go through into the jar to stop bugs, etc

[@tonyt.1596]

I put my flowhive super on in April and it is still not full. This is my second year of Flowhive and no honey yet.

[@Dynarick]

Very cool. Very pricey. Beyond my budget.

[@deanclarke392]

A good thing to demonstrate prior to harvesting was to pull frames out to show how much is fully capped. Looking at how much honey you harvested none of the frames were fully capped. The rear view harvest window is not an indicator that frames are ready only that the bees have filled the frames from the rear. A Flow frame holds around 1.5ltrs of honey so around 2.5 gallons US. Nice to see you having fun with the Flow Hive I've several and for around 5 years now. Great for backyard beekeepers although lifting a partially or full deep Flow super off the hive to carryout inspections isn't easy. Demonstrating harvesting off the hive is also good as it'll show the leakage you get back into the brood below so my advice is never harvest all frames in one go. Do several then a few more with a couple of days in-between. I've had colonies abscond due to the severity of the leakage from the Flow frames. The individual sections ultimately cannot prevent liquid leakage after cracking the frame open. If you have the pest management tray in you'll see the leakage in the tray that's dripped over the entire brood chamber. If you don't have the tray in it'll fall through the metal mesh floor and can encourage robbing from other nearby hives, wasps or hornets.

[@sandiriggert5345]

That was so cool! Thank you for sharing. I think I may need to get one.

[@starklavenderfields]

Looking good. Still waiting for my flow frames to fill up. Maybe waiting for spring.

[@igorkarlic2297]

Will it work with ivy or spurce honey? How do you manipulate reverse boxes? Swarm control... I think it is hype.

[@hardluckhenry]

Why do Honey bees have to be registered in Illinois? I tried looking this up and all I got was some long winded explanation.

[@ChristieAnnMitchell]

You can use wax covers over your jars during the flow. Thank you for trying this!

[@justinsbeehivejournal3754]

I'm kind of curious to see what your refractometer would be I've always been interested in these hives but the cost of them I can't justify for me. We had a pretty early dearth this year so I had some frames that weren't even fully capped I spun them hive frames out first and then went back and uncapped and then respond the frames the honey that was in the uncap frames I used to make mead as I figured the moisture content would be kind of high I unfortunately don't have a refractometer but I'm looking to get one

[@Peter-od7op]

I got interested in bees because of the flow hive. Then i took david class on bees.

[@DialedN_07]

Moisture content on the first frame looked awfully high. Very drippy/runny. I would have liked to see how much of that frame was actually capped. I've had cappings at the edge and the middle remained uncapped

[@apatriot1762]

First?

[@kevingrisler4123]

Hey David, have you ever thought about doing a video on how to get your bees through a hot summer? I'm not a beekeeper yet but I currently live in California where it gets up to 115°F in the summertime.

[@beek]

Yes search my channel, I’ve made several every summer

[@scottreese5492]

Flys live on poop, I'd feed that one back to the bees

[@naturalwitchery]

YOU NEED YOIR WINTER PHYSIOLOGY END VIDEO CARD. Just thought I'd alert you

[@richmiller6284]

This is my 3rd year with my flow super, finally got 1 1/2 qts out of it. It seems my bees always use as temporary storage, they always back fill the brood boxes, as soon as their is room to do so.

[@glasloganfarm8944]

I thought it was interesting that all of the cells were not 100% full prior to capping.

[@scottreese5492]

I have this mindset.....if it was easy....everybody would be doing it. I can name too many reasons why I'm not trying those, lol